February 11, 1861 Monday Two Presidents Depart
From Springfield, Ill., President-elect Abraham Lincoln of the United States of America departed on a long trip to Washington and inauguration. From Brierfield Plantation on the Mississippi, President-elect Jefferson Davis of the Confederate States of America departed on a long trip to Montgomery, Ala., and inauguration.
More than a thousand citizens gathered in the early morning drizzle at the Great Western Station in Springfield to hear Mr. Lincoln, at times shaken with emotion, surrounded by the party of family, secretaries, dignitaries, and army officers, spoke from the rear train platform. “Here I have lived a quarter of a century, and passed from a young to an old man … I now leave, not knowing when, or whether ever, I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington. Without the assistance of that Divine Being, who ever attended him, I cannot succeed. With that assistance, I cannot fail. Trusting in Him, who can go with me, and remain with you, and be every where for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell.” Lincoln's trip took him, among other places, through Indianapolis (February 11); Cincinnati (February 12); Columbus, Ohio (February 13); Pittsburgh (February 14); Cleveland (February 15); Buffalo (February 16); Albany (February 18); New York City (Februa ry 19); Trenton, New Jersey, and Philadelphia (February 20); Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and back to Philadelphia (February 22); Baltimore and Washington (February 23).
As the train rolled slowly eastward across Illinois and Indiana, several stops were made for the President-elect to greet enthusiastic crowds. At Decatur, Ill., Lincoln moves rapidly through crowd at depot, shaking hands right and left. Makes brief remarks at Tolono and Danville, Ill. At 12:30 P.M. train arrives at Indiana State Line where he is welcomed by committee of state legislature headed by Capt. Frederick Steele. Here Great Western joins Toledo and Wabash, and large numbers of Indiana politicians board train. At Lafayette, Ind., Lincoln says: "While some of us may differ in political opinions, still we are all united in one feeling for the Union. We all believe in the maintainance of the Union, of every star and every stripe of the glorious flag, and permit me to express the sentiment that upon the union of the States, there shall be between us no difference." Greets people at Thorntown and Lebanon, Ind. Every station along route has its crowd. At Indianapolis he was met by Gov. Oliver P. Morton and receives 34-gun salute, and a huge procession of some twenty thousand escorted Mr. Lincoln to the Bates House. At the hotel he told the throng, “It is your business to rise up and preserve the Union and liberty, for yourselves, and not for me.” He said he opposed invasion or coercion of a state but that enforcement of the laws and holding of Federal property were not coercion. He spoke of those who in his words believed the Union not a regular marriage “but only a sort of free-love arrangement.” At 7 P.M. begins greeting no fewer than 3,000 persons during impromptu reception in main parlor. Becomes excited over temporary loss of satchel containing copies of Inaugural Address.
At Brierfield Plantation Jefferson Davis bid farewell to family and plantation slaves before taking a boat alone for Vicksburg and eventually Montgomery, Ala. (February 16), via Jackson, Miss., Chattanooga, and Atlanta. The trip was difficult due to lack of a direct railroad, poor traveling accommodations, and the haste with which the journey was made. In Vicksburg the Confederate President-elect made the first of many brief speeches declaring he had struggled earnestly to maintain the Union and the “constitutional equality of all the States.” But “our safety and honor required us to dissolve our connection with the United States. I hope that our separation may be peaceful. But whether it be so or not, I am ready, as I always have been, to redeem my pledges to you and the South by shedding every drop of my blood in your cause …”
In a simple, unprepared ceremony at Montgomery, Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia was inaugurated Provisional Vice-President of the Confederate States of American. In its speed to get things moving, the convention or Provisional Congress had decided not to await the arrival of the President-elect. Stephens, a small, sallow, emaciated wisp of a man with chronically poor health, took the oath upon his own birth date but declined to make any policy statement. At Austin, Tex., the State Convention voted in favor of formation of a Southern Confederacy and elected seven delegates to Congress.
The Electoral College begins to meet amid fears of a show of force against the election of Abraham Lincoln. General Winfield Scott reinforces the city and the meeting occurs as planned. Vice-president John C. Breckinridge declares Lincoln the winner of the Election of 1860.
Commander Dahlgren urged Congress to approve the building of more gun-sloops and an "iron-cased" ship.
_________________ Gen Ned Simms 2/XVI Corps/AotT Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em. VMI Class of '00
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